IT'S OFFICIAL, THIS TEAM IS A DISGRACE

to the pinstripes. The Yankees keep saying there is no reason to panic yet. But that's all about the future. They sahould be worried that they are making fools of themselves in the present. There are newly minted fans out there and for them the NY Yankees are synonymous with incompetence, futility, passionlessness, non-competitiveness. George no sooner gives the keys to the Bentley to Boy-Brian and he wrecks the damn thing altogether. For those who cannot stand to look, Vizcaino has already been ruined in the Ron Villone mode; Proctor is already burned out for the season; Mankietwicz is now hitting .140, proving what we all knew going in, that he posed no solution to the problem at first base; Matsui still doesn't seem ready for some reason, and whoever is pitching (including Pettite) regards Yankee rallies as invitations to give back the runs in the very next half-inning. But for those who think Boy-Brian can do nothing right, there was bitterly ironic evidence to the contrary on display tonight. It's a good thing he didn't give Mo that extension. I mean don't look now but he can't get anyone out; he can't even get meaningless outs.

Is there no blame for Torre in all this? Of course there is.

1. He's the one who keeps running Mankietwicz out there, even though there is no prospect that he can hit big league pitching anymore. Another mistake that would be better admitted. I don't care what your offense looks like; nobody can afford a corner infielder who is an automatic out with absolutely no power potential. In his first at bat tonight, he looked at three straight strikes and went back to the dugout. And where are those legendary NY fans. they should be booing, cursing and throwing things at Mankietwicz until Torre can't play him for fear of psychic or physical injury. Given Mama Joe's tendency to mollycoddle, it shouldn't take that long.

2. I don't care if Mo needs work. Even before he fell off the cliff Boston was hitting him too hard because they had grown accostomed to his stuff. Why give them a further look when you don't have to? Perhaps Torre fails to remember that he wouldn't pitch Mo against the Sox in spring training for that very reason. So why waste him now?

3. He shows absolutely no anger, no disgust, no irascibility, at this performance. He should be holding some of these guys, not to mention himself, up to ridicule. I mean the fans shouldn't have to carry the whole weight in this regard. It will only be so long before we start ignoring them altogether.